Bill Kaye, 74, took pity on the beggar and his girlfriend offering them a bed for the night and hot food after he spotted them asking for money in the rain outside B&M in Holderness Road, east Hull.

Just hours earlier he had arranged for undertakers to bring his wife of 52 years Pauline, back to their east Hull home ahead of her funeral.

DEVOTED: Bill Kaye pictured with Pauline, his wife of 52 years, in May this year

The couple repaid Mr Kaye's kindness, described as having a "heart of gold", by stealing £400 and broaches belonging to Mrs Kaye, who died on August 13, more than a decade after a massive stroke left her bedbound.